This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Over the past four years, this core has been instrumental to our recovery following Hurricane Katrina. Focusing on mentoring and career development, the Faculty Development Core explores novel concepts, approaches, and methods and brings objectivity, planning, accountability, and scholarship to faculty development. Activities are designed to meet the specific needs of the PJIs, most of whom are non-native English speakers. Components of this core include an ongoing faculty development curriculum that instills research, administration, communication, education, and leadership, and cultural competence. This core provides a structured pathway that assists mentors and mentees with designing, monitoring, and evaluating mentoring contracts and provides research seminars, Work in Progress meetings, journal clubs, and workshops on grantsmanship, effective communication skills, and the ethical conduct of research. In addition, the core designs and evaluates mentoring activities at different levels: peer review, scientific, career, and external. For each PJI, the core prepares a career development plan that includes specific targets, measurable outcomes, and periodic evaluation. The faculty development program has become a model at LSUHSC and for other COBRE programs in IDeA states.